Papermaking screen

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to papermaking screen, especially for the sheet forming zone, with one paper side and one machine side, among others consisting of a first type of transverse yarns of the paper side and a second type of transverse yarns ( 25  to  40 ) of the machine side, which are woven with at least one type of longitudinal yarns ( 41  to  56 ).  
     In that the longitudinal yarns ( 41  to  56 ) on the machine side within the machine-side pattern repeat bind two respective transverse yarns of the second type ( 25, 28; 31, 34; 37, 40 ), the division of the intersections for the longitudinal yams is improved, so that marks in the paper to be produced are prevented to the greatest extent possible.

The invention relates to a papermaking screen, especially for the sheet forming zone having one paper side and one machine side, consisting of the following:

-   -   a first type of transverse yarns on the paper side and     -   a second type of transverse yarns on the machine side,     -   which are woven with at least one type of longitudinal yarns,     -   two adjacent longitudinal yarns forming pairs which in         alternation on the paper side form a plain weave, and     -   within the pattern repeat at least one respective intersection         of the first and one intersection of the second type forming,         and     -   which alternate with the formation of at least two different         intersections within a repeat to the machine side, and     -   one part of the second type of transverse yarns are bonded by at         least two longitudinal yarns within a repeat.

The dewatering of the fiber suspension by filtration is an important process within the papermaking process. The fiber suspension is a mixture of wood or cellulose fibers, fillers, auxiliary chemical agents and mainly water. This filtration process which is often also called sheet formation takes place in the sheet forming part of the wet part of the papermaking machine.

In order to be able to produce a paper sheet as uniform as possible, it is necessary to increase the amount of water to approximately 99% within the fiber suspension immediately before sheet formation. During the sheet forming process this proportion is reduced to approximately 80% by filtration. The paper fibers and the fillers and auxiliary agents remain as fiber mat on the papermaking screen.

While in the past dewatering took place mainly by the papermaking screen on Fourdrinier paper machines, double screen machines are being used more and more often today, preferably so-called gap formers. They are characterized in that the fiber suspension is sprayed into a gap which is formed by two papermaking screens. Dewatering in this connection takes place at the same time by two screens, by which it was possible to significantly accelerate the filtration process and thus also the production rate of the papermaking machine. At present there are papermaking machines for the sanitary paper domain with speeds of more than 2,000 meters/min.

These extreme conditions in the papermaking machine require sheet forming screens which are designed especially for this purpose and which offer high fiber support with nevertheless still high stability and openness. In addition a low tendency to marking of the fabric, that is to say, high fabric uniformity is necessary especially for the domain of graphic paper.

A fabric or papermaking screen which most satisfies these requirements is described in DE 100 30 650 C1.

The object of this invention is to further improve the known papermaking screen in terms of its operating properties. This object is achieved by a papermaking screen with the features specified in claim 1 in its entirety.

In that, as specified in the characterizing part of claim 1, the longitudinal yarns on the machine side within the machine-side pattern repeat bind two transverse yarns each of the second type, the division of the intersections for the longitudinal yarns is improved, so that marks in the paper to be produced are for the most part prevented. This binding for the indicated transverse yarns by means of the longitudinal yarns takes place without their alternating between the pairs of bound transverse yarns onto the paper side. The claimed weft ratio of the yarn system on the paper side to the yarn system on the machine side leads to a largely closed bottom side or machine side with still good dewatering performance, and disruptive operating noise and wear by increased abrasion of the machine-side transverse yarns are thus avoided.

The solution as claimed in the invention furthermore makes it possible to reduce the transverse yarns on the machine side in diameter so that so-called water entrainment cannot occur, a phenomenon which is caused when the screen, after leaving the sheet forming zone, cannot be emptied or not adequately emptied by the dewatering elements and the residual water on a deflection roller of the papermaking machine is hydroextracted out of the fabric by the resulting centrifugal forces. In addition to unpleasant mist formation, in the extreme case it can also happen that the entrained water droplets fall back onto the paper web and there result in hole formation; this then results in unusable paper qualities. The fabric as claimed in the invention is especially suited to high speed papermaking machines and to papermaking in the graphics domain which calls for very high production qualities.

The tendency of the upper fabric, that is to say, the paper side of the screen, to marking is preferably reduced by the number of intersections for the longitudinal yarns being reduced relative to the number of upper wefts used in the form of transverse yarns of the first type and the number of upper wefts in the form of transverse yarns of the first type being increased between adjacent warp intersections. Furthermore, in order to reduce the tendency to marks when the fabric is being made, it is possible to move the location of the warp intersections between two adjacent warp pairs farther away from each other.

In one especially preferred embodiment of this papermaking screen as claimed in the invention, provision is made such that its machine side be made uniform by a larger number of machine-side transverse yarns of the second type which are slightly thinner in cross section being placed within the repeat by the altered weft ratio. In this way the screen thickness can also be reduced; this diminishes the danger of unwanted water entrainment. The claimed screen also permits increasing the permeability and consequently the dewatering performance for a comparable weft number on the upper or paper side of the screen, due to the special binding configuration of the machine-side wefts in the form of transverse yarns of the second type.

Other advantageous embodiments of the papermaking screen solution as claimed in the invention are the subject matter of the other dependent claims.

The solution as claimed in the invention will be detailed below using one exemplary embodiment as shown in the drawings. The figures are schematic.

FIG. 1 shows how two warp yarns run in a screen solution in the prior art according to DE 100 30 650 C1;

FIG. 2 shows how the warp runs corresponding to FIG. 1 for the solution as claimed in the invention over a repeat;

FIG. 3 shows how the warp yarns run for a complete repeat of the binding as claimed in the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a complete pattern repeat for the paper side, the machine-side wefts being omitted for the sake of clarity, and

FIG. 5 shows a complete pattern repeat of the machine side, looking from overhead according to cross section A-A in FIG. 2.

First of all, using FIGS. 1 and 2 the differences between the known embodiment as shown in FIG. 1 and the execution as claimed in the invention as shown in FIG. 2 will be illustrated based on how comparable warp yarns run. It should furthermore be mentioned at this point that in the following description the warp yarns are also called machine direction yarns (MD yarns), and with the indication longitudinal yarns or with the designation lower and upper warps. The weft yarns in turn can be equated to the indication cross-machine direction yarns (CMD yarns) with the indication transverse yarns or with the indication lower and upper wefts. In order to be able make the comparison, the two drawings as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are prepared with the same number of 24 paper-side wefts or CMD yarns 1 to 24. The following significant differences can be recognized here:

-   -   The distance of the warp intersections increases from the         original eight upper wefts in the solution as claimed in the         invention to twelve. As a result disruptive intersections occur         less often on the paper side with the same number of yarns.     -   The number of lower wefts in the solution as claimed in the         invention has been increased. At the same material filling         density on the machine side smaller diameters can be used,         reducing the thickness.     -   The distances between the lower wefts become smaller, the total         of the distances remaining the same (same material filling         density). The uniformity of the bottom increases in this respect         in the binding as claimed in the invention.     -   Between the two warp intersections the warp located in the lower         fabric binds with two lower wefts. In conjunction with a second         lower warp the lower fabric binding in the solution as claimed         in the invention is implemented such that a high degree of         openness is achieved, i.e., the screen as claimed in the         invention has improved dewatering performance.

Having mentioned this, in FIG. 3 a complete pattern repeat of the version as claimed in the invention in the form of warp courses or MD yam courses is shown. The sections of FIGS. 3 a to 3 h lie along each pair of warp yams, beginning from the left next to each other. FIG. 3 a corresponds otherwise to FIG. 2.

The respective figures show the special type of lower fabric binding. If the lower warp 41 is examined, it binds underneath the lower wefts 25 and 28. The warp 44 located in the fabric as the fourth longitudinal yam also binds with the same lower wefts. The two warps in this area are caused to approach each other by the common, relatively nearby binding on the same weft and are thus located underneath the warps 42 and 43 which are located in the upper fabric and which each belong to the pair.

FIG. 4 shows the paper side of the fabric as claimed in the invention. For the sake of simpler representation the lower wefts have not been shown in FIG. 4. The upper fabric, as in the solution in the prior art as shown in FIG. 1, consists of a plain weave which is formed in alternation by two warp yams (longitudinal yarns 41 to 56). In contrast to the known solution as shown in FIG. 1, between the intersections under the wefts 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20 and 23 there are however always two upper wefts 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, etc., under which alternation never takes place.

FIG. 5 furthermore shows the lower fabric in a top view, that is to say, a section along line A-A in FIG. 2. This shows the special execution of the lower weft bindings which is implemented such that the two outer warp yarns of two warp pairs jointly bind the two lower wefts and in between in turn two wefts are not bound. This results in the warp yarns located in the lower fabric are pulled to under the warp yarns located in the upper fabric and thus open areas for good dewatering performance are formed. The warp yarns 41 and 42 in this respect form a pair of longitudinal yarns for producing the paper side (cf. FIG. 3 a). When the warp yarn 41 binds on the machine side, the warp yarn 42 is on the overlying paper side and vice versa. The adjacent pair of warp yarns 43 and 44 (cf. FIG. 3 b) performs the same task, but nearby on the right as viewed in the direction to it. In this connection the warp yarn 41 is always located to the left of the warp yarn 42 and the warp yarn 43 is always located to the left of the warp yarn 44. The outer warp yarns within these two pairs are then therefore the yarns 41 and 44.

But then exactly these two warp yarns jointly bind the lower wefts 25 and 28 as transverse yarns of the second type relative to the machine side and therefore in this respect run underneath these machine-side wefts (cf. FIGS. 3 a, b and FIG. 5). By bending the lower wefts at a right angle the two warps are pulled into the center of the binding which is located underneath the two inner warp yarns 42 and 43. Thus the warps 41 and 44 can in fact no longer be seen from the top and an open area is exposed to the left and right of the warps 42 and 43 running to the top. 

1. Papermaking screen, especially for the sheet forming zone, with one paper side and one machine side, consisting of the following: a first type of transverse yarns (1 to 24) of the paper side and a second type of transverse yarns (25 to 40) of the machine side, which are woven with at least one type of longitudinal yarns (41 to 56), two adjacent longitudinal yarns (41, 44; 47, 50; 53, 56) forming pairs which in alternation on the paper side form a plain weave, and within the pattern repeat at least one respective intersection of the first and one intersection of the second type forming, and which alternate with the formation of at least two different intersections within a repeat to the machine side, and part of the second type of transverse yarns are bound by at least two longitudinal yarns within a repeat, characterized in that the longitudinal yarns (41 to 56) on the machine side within the machine-side pattern repeat bind two transverse yarns each of the second type (25, 28; 31, 34; 37, 40).
 2. The papermaking screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein two outer longitudinal yarns (42, 43) within two adjacent longitudinal yarn pairs (41, 44) always effect binding for one part (25, 28; 31, 34) of the second type of transverse yarns (25 to 40).
 3. The papermaking screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein viewed in the transverse direction of the screen, between two adjacent intersections there are at least three longitudinal yarns on the paper side which within a repeat do not create an additional intersection with the machine side.
 4. The papermaking screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein viewed in the longitudinal direction of the screen, between two adjacent intersections there are at least two transverse yarns on the paper side which within a repeat do not create additional intersections with the machine side.
 5. The papermaking screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein twelve transverse yarns of the first type run between two adjacent intersections on the paper side. 